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LAWSUIT: Nevadans say they signed up - but received no health care coverage

Right
after the deadline for Affordable Health Care comes and goes, a group
of Nevadans are now suing the state. According to the suit, the state of
Nevada is guilty of gross negligence and failure to do due diligence.
In short, they say that they signed up and paid their premiums - but
were never given coverage.

As of this past weekend, 40,500 consumers had selected qualified health plans through the exchange. Of those, 24,000 had paid for coverage.

Highlights

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - One of the plaintiffs, Larry Basich says they signed up for state health insurance and paid premiums as far back as November, but was not covered following a January 3 triple bypass procedure that saw his $400,000 in medical expenses passed between the wrong insurance companies. The law firm of Callister & Associates filed the lawsuit on behalf of Basich.

The Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, which runs Nevada Health Link, and the company that won the contract to build the exchange, Xerox, are the defendants named in the suit.

Four companies had responded with proposals to build the state's Obamacare exchange. Xerox won the bid after receiving the highest-score on a state criteria list ranging from financial stability to comparable contract experience.

The Nevada state government has since given the second-place company, Deloitte Consulting, a $1.5 million contract to fix the Nevada Health Link.

About 40 people had called saying they had also paid their insurance premiums but have no coverage. As of last week, the Nevada Health Link had a "pends" list totaling more than 10,500 people still without coverage.

Lea Swartley also claims to have received no coverage despite paying premium. She is the co-plaintiff in the lawsuit.

"There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Nevadans who have been paying premiums for 2, 3, 4 months, not receiving any coverage whatsoever," Attorney Matthew Callister says. He cited another instance where one patient had skin cancer and she can't go in to have her treatment because her doctor says, 'Who is your carrier?'"

As of this past weekend, 40,500 consumers had selected qualified health plans through the exchange. Of those, 24,000 had paid for coverage.

Callister told newspaper reporters that the lawsuit is not an attack on the Affordable Care Act or the state's insurance exchange.

"This has nothing to do with the ACA. This is 100 percent about Xerox, who won the bid from the state of Nevada to create this exchange. And they've failed. They absolutely failed," Callister says.

"I just want to get people covered who paid for coverage," Callister said. "State law said that's what's supposed to happen."

Pope Francis Prayer Intentions for OCTOBER 2017
Workers and the Unemployed. That all workers may receive respect and protection of their rights, and that the unemployed may receive the opportunity to contribute to the common good.